Connected
by laughing on the inside
Summary: Sakura Kinomoto is devastated to hear that her formerly estranged grandfather is in hospital, suffering from the stress of a broken heart; his favourite granddaughter Mikan Sakura has been whisked away to a mysterious institution known as Gakuen Alice. Sakura vows to find her cousin and bring her back and, of course, Syaoran, Eriol and Tomoyo won't let her go alone
1. Acceptance

A/N: Welcome

This will be a relatively short fic, I'm aiming for about three chapters, maybe four. It is mostly written and I only need to decide on the final scenes so it will definitely be completed.  
I have not much else to say, so on with the fic!

* * *

**Connected**

_Chapter 1: Acceptance_

"Hello? Yes. What?! No…are you sure? Okay, then. Thank you for letting me know,"

Sakura looked to her father as he sighed and ran a hand through his hear, dropping the phone back onto the receiver.  
"Father, what's wrong?" Sakura asked with concern.

"Sakura," he began slowly, "Your grandfather's very ill,"

"Jii-chan? Is he going to be alright?" Sakura asked with worry.

Her father shook his head again, "He's in hospital. Apparently he's very weak and very sick. He doesn't have much longer to live. Maybe a month?" Sakura's face paled and her eyes grew wide.

She leapt up from her seat, "What?! But I've never even gotten to meet Jii chan! He can't die yet! We have to…"

"Sakura, calm down,"

Sakura took a deep breath. She couldn't believe this was happening. She had always pictured her grandfather as a strict, but healthy old man, refined and strong as an ox. Then something occurred to her, "Why did the hospital call us?"

"We are apparently next of kin, since your mother's sister and her husband passed away,"

Jii chan was her mother's father but because of Nadeshiko's marriage to Fujitaka (Sakura's father), Jii chan had severed ties with her. She had only recently found out about Jii chan and had been sending him letters and flowers on Valentines day as well as his birthday. Jii chan, however had two daughters; Nadeshiko and Yuka. The sisters had never been very close, but Sakura knew that Yuka had a daughter; her cousin.

"But…but…what about my cousin, Mikan?"

"That's part of what's making him sick. Apparently your cousin has disappeared. A nurse from the hospital called to tell me that his heart is breaking down,"

Sakura couldn't believe her ears, "Mikan disappeared? Was she kidnapped? Why haven't we heard of this?!"

"Sakura, honey, you need to breathe. According to the nurse, your grandfather has been muttering nothing but, 'Gakuen Alice stole my granddaughter, give her back!' for the past week,"

"I knew it! Mikan loved Jii chan! She wouldn't just leave him! And even if she went to a new school, I'm sure she would do everything she could to at least write him a letter," Sakura remembered the letters Jii chan had sent her, which included pictures of him with his beloved grand-daughter and stories about their fun times. He often described her as a happy, fun loving girl and Sakura had a framed picture of the two of them on her night stand, next to a picture of her mother. She had been happy for them and wished that she could visit and meet them both, but it was starting to look like an impossible dream.

"That's what I thought. But apparently the school is very restrictive and won't let her write. Sakura, your grandfather might not see Mikan before he dies,"

Sakura could feel the tears welling up in her eyes, then she sniffled, "Something's not right," Sakura said, furrowing her brow, "I'm going to go get Mikan. I'm not going to let poor Jii chan die without seeing his beloved granddaughter!"

"Sakura…" her father saw that she was more than determined to go. He sighed, "Okay. Just be careful, alright?"

"Thanks, Dad! I'll have Mikan back before you know it!"

* * *

Sakura stood before two large wrought iron gates. She looked to they boy next to her with determination on her face.

"So this is the place, Eriol kun?" she asked.

"Yup," the boy nodded.

"Oh, this is going to be so cool! A jailbreak! I've got your outfit all prepared, Sakura chan!" a girl with long violet hair squealed, a camcorder glued to her eye.

"Tomoyo, really? This isn't the right place for that," A boy with shaggy brown hair admonished.

"Nonsense, Li! Every place is the right place to make my Sakura chan cute!" She said lightly.

"Sorry, Tomoyo chan, but I'm going to have to agree with my cute little descendent. We're supposed to fit in," Eriol said. Li growled something about 'not being your 'cute' descendent, dammit!'.

Sakura stood watching her friends bantering and arguing about outfits. She smiled; it was just like old times.

"You guys," she said, "Thanks for coming. I know this must be a huge burden to you but…"

"Oh, Sakura, I'd never let you do this alone! Think of all the great footage I'd be missing out on!" Tomoyo giggled.

"Do not worry, Sakura chan, I've been wanting to visit this place for a while. It wasn't much trouble," Eriol smiled.

"I'm not letting you break into a high-tech government research facility alone, idiot; screw the Elders," Li rolled his eyes, but he gave her a soft smile. Syaoran had returned to Hong Kong the Summer before, but once he heard about Sakura's plan to break into Gakuen Alice, he was on the next plane back to Japan.

Sakura beamed at her friends, "So how are we going to do this?"

"Can't we just go in and ask to speak to Sakura's cousin?" Tomoyo asked.

Eriol shook his head, "I've heard about this school and I've done some research. Apparently, it is incredibly sensitive about security. It won't let anyone who doesn't demonstrate some sort of magical ability in and won't let anyone out,"

"Is it really that bad?" Tomoyo asked, pausing her video for the moment, "I mean, it looks like your average, very wealthy school," she said.

"Gakuen Alice is a government institution that kidnaps children and forces them to use their powers against their will for the sake of money and personal gain despite the detrimental health effect to the users, often dragging children as young as five years old away from their families. I think this place is pretty horrible," Eriol said nonchalantly, "But, you know. Whatever," He shrugged.

Tomoyo gave him a whack on the head, "No need to be sarcastic," she frowned.

"How does it keep people in?" Sakura asked.

Li walked up to the boundary, "You can feel a faint pulsing of magic from the walls," he said, "There must be some kind of barrier,"

"And those look like some pretty advanced grids," Tomoyo pointed at the small boxes and wires that buzzed with live electricity.

"How do we get in, then?" Sakura asked.

"Guess we'll have to show them some magic," Li shrugged.

"But remember not to overdo it, my cute little descendent. We don't want them becoming too suspicious of us before we can break Sakura's cousin out," Eriol warned.

"I don't have magic," Tomoyo reminded them.

"That's okay Tomoyo chan," Sakura said pulling out her stack of Star Cards, "I'll lend you some Cards," Sakura shuffled through the deck until she found the ones she was looking for.

"The Song, The Voice and The Silent," she summoned, "For our time here in Gakuen Alice, I would like you to obey Tomoyo Daidouji, Release and Dispel!" The three spirits floated from the cards and surrounded their new master. The Voice took the form of a small hair clip, The Song changed into a pendant and The Silent morphed into a chain for the pendant.

"Ooh, how cute!" Tomoyo squealed as she looked over her new accessories.

"So how do we get admitted into the academy?" Sakura asked.

"We need to get noticed. Apparently, the staff have some sort of device or person that can sense magic when it flares up. They then dispatch someone to kidnap the child and whisk them away to their school," Eriol supplied.

"Why didn't they notice our magic when we were card capturing? We sure weren't all that discrete," Syaoran argued.

"The magic they use isn't the same type. I guess they don't have trackers for our sorcery,"

"Then how do we get noticed?" Tomoyo asked.

"We could blow a hole in their wall," Li suggested, pulling out his sword and readying an ofuda.

"Syaoran!" Sakura admonished, snatching away the ofuda.

"Very funny," Eriol rolled his eyes, "And that brings up another point. You can't use ofuda. The magic they use is more of an innate ability, rather than a spiritual one. Can you summon magic without chants or your sword?" Eriol asked.

"I'll make do," Li shrugged.

"So how are we…" Sakura was cut off by the large gates in front of them opening. She jumped back a bit and was surprised to see a young, highly effeminate man stepping out.

The man also looked surprised to see a group of kids standing in front of his school. He gave them a curious look over, then; "Hello, children, what are you doing here?" he asked.

"Uhh…" Sakura looked to Eriol. He shrugged and indicated that it was Sakura's call, "Uhh…we would like to enrol in your school,"

"Is that so?" the man asked, "I'm sorry, I don't think it's the right place for you kids, unless you have an Alice?"

"What's an 'Alice'?" Tomoyo asked.

"It's a special gift," the man said.

"We're pretty special kids," Eriol said with his creepiest, all-knowing, Clow Reed voice. Sakura and Tomoyo stifled a giggle and Li rolled his eyes at Eriol's antics.

"Really, now?" the man said, looking at Eriol with a touch of suspicion, "Perhaps you should come inside," the man said.

Tomoyo followed instantly, a dazed look in her eye as she complied to the man's request. Sakura, Eriol and Syaoran looked to each other. They felt an odd wave of magic flow over them, it was light and they brushed it away easily.

_The Shield, protect Tomoyo from the influence of that man's magic, release and dispel,_ Sakura whispered softly.

Tomoyo's eyes cleared instantly and she looked around. The man didn't seem to notice, though, since Eriol and Syaoran made sure to keep her behind them and out of the man's line of sight.

_I think we'd better be more careful from now on,_ Eriol sent the telepathic thought to Li and Sakura, who nodded.

* * *

The blonde man led the four of them into an opulent room and sat them on a couch. He fetched them a pot of tea and poured them each a cup. After they had exchanged light pleasantries, the man introduced himself formally,

"Well, I'm Narumi Anjo. It's not everyday we meet kids who claim to have Alices," he said in a friendly manner, "Would you like to show me your talents?" he asked. He looked to Eriol who sat closest to him on his left.

"Of course. My name is Eriol Hiirigazawa," He gestured to the teapot and made it levitate in the air. He spun it around, making the tea fall out of the spout. He levitated the tea, split it into five portions and refilled each cup. Narumi looked impressed.

"That's some very precise control you have. It's amazing for a boy so young to have such complete control of his Alice,"

_Way to not show off, _Li thought to him telepathically. Eriol motioned to Li's teacup, causing it to tip. Li shifted slightly, the tea missing him by a fraction.

"Oh, looks like my control isn't _that_ good," he said with a smile.

"Stupid, little…" Li muttered to himself.

Narumi watched in amusement, "What about you young lady," he turned to Tomoyo who sat next to Eriol, "What Alice…" he continued to mouth words, but he was surprised to find that nothing came out.

"My name is Tomoyo Daidouji. I can mimic and steal people's voices," Tomoyo said in Narumi's voice. Sakura jumped at how odd it was for a man's voice to come from her delicate, lady-like friend's mouth.

"That's creepy, Daidouji chan," Eriol said with a bit of a chuckle.

Tomoyo shuddered as well, "You can have your voice back, it doesn't really suit me," she said with a smile.

"Wow," was the first thing Narumi said with his voice returned. He then turned to Sakura, who sat next to Tomoyo.

"Uh…I'm Sakura Kinomoto and I can…" Sakura sat, mentally sifting through her Star cards, "Oh, I can make food!" Sakura closed her eyes and clasped her hands together, _The Sweet_, she whispered. She opened her hands and revealed a small cupcake.

Narumi examined her cupcake and took a bite, "That's delicious," he said with a smile, "We have a girl with a Cooking Alice, but not one with this sort of Creation Alice," He said to her, then turned to Syaoran, "Lucky last?"

Syaoran snorted, not introducing himself. _Lightning, Release!_ He said in his mind. He pointed his outstretched hand towards the window opposite him and blew it out of its frame. The explosion was humungous, causing Narumi to jump a foot in the air and the metal frame to crackle with sparks.

"That was hardly necessary," Eriol noted.

Li shrugged, "I'm not going to be upstaged by _you_,"

Narumi took a moment to settle his heart, "I think you're definitely a dangerous type," he said.

"What does that mean?" Li asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

"There are five types of Alices; Latent, which would be Eriol kun, Technical, which would be Sakura chan, since that's what our other Cooking Alice is under, Somatic, which would be Tomoyo chan, Special type, which I don't think any of you are and Dangerous, which would be you…"

Li looked at him unflinchingly, refusing to co-operate.

Sakura sighed, "He's Syaoran Li,"

"Syaoran kun. Definite Dangerous type," Narumi nodded to himself, "Now you guys have joined at an interesting time. It's the Cultural festival tomorrow. I'll show you guys to your normal class, but then you'll be split up into your Alice classes, okay?" He led the four of them to class B. He opened the door to find the class in disarray.

"Where's the teacher?" Narumi asked, looking around as if seeing a bunch of kids rampaging wildly around a classroom was quite normal.

"Chased him away," one of the students responded, "He was being annoying,"

Narumi sighed. He looked around the classroom, then furrowed his brow, "Has Special Abilities left?"

A boy with glasses and three stars pinned to his uniform walked up to Narumi, "Yes, Narumi san, Special Abilities have already started their preparations,"

Narumi looked confused, "But preparation begin in the afternoon," he said.

"Sorry, Narumi san. Tsubassa senpai came storming in saying that they needed more time because they had an amazing idea planned," The boy looked genuinely apologetic.

"Oh well, never mind. Thanks for telling me, Yu," Narumi turned to the four standing behind him, "These are your new classmates," he said, "I hope you'll all get along well," he pushed the four into the classroom, "I'll be back, but for now, why don't you guys get acquainted," he turned on his heel and waved goodbye.

Sakura and her friends looked around. The chaos had stopped for the moment as each of the students examined her and her friends.

"You guys should introduce yourselves," Yu suggested, "I'm your class representative, Yu Tobita," He said and gestured to the first boy,

"Hello, I'm Eriol Hiiragizawa. I've recently moved here from England. I hope we get along well" Eriol said. Many of the girls swooned at his foreign accent and gentlemanly smile. He then looked to Tomoyo, who was still carrying her video camera. She lowered it for the moment, though,

"Good morning, I'm Tomoyo Daidouji. I love to take videos of my cute little Sakura chan and I enjoy sewing," she said with a sweet smile. Most of the boys looked to Tomoyo with infatuation since, with her long dark hair and radiant pale skin, she was a definite beauty, "Your turn, Sakura chan," she said, then began filming her friend's introduction.

"Eh, Tomoyo chan, don't film me!" she said nervously, "Uhh…I'm Sakura Kinomoto. Uh…I like athletics and hanging out with friends," she said, fidgeting slightly with her hands and feet. She looked to Li, who was, again, last. Li looked to her.

"What?" he asked Sakura.

"Introduce yourself, Syaoran," she nudged him.

He looked to the class, "This is stupid," he said and turned back to Sakura. Tomoyo giggled, Eriol smirked and Sakura sighed. They should have expected as much from anti-social Li Syaoran. Unfortunately for him, though, nearly all the girls looked at him with love-struck stares, giggling and laughing to themselves.

"What are your Alices?" a voice from the back asked. The chattering stopped when the voice rang out over the room. Sakura looked and saw a boy with raven black hair and red eyes staring at them.

"What's your Alice?" Li shot back.

"Syaoran," Sakura admonished, "Don't be rude,"

"He started it. It's polite to introduce yourself first," Li said.

The boy smirked. He raised his hand, created a ball of fire, then threw it towards the four of them.

"Wah!" Sakura yelped as Li pulled her out of the way. He saw a murderous red and turned to the boy.

"You bastard! You could have hurt her!" he yelled. _Lightning…_

"Syaoran! I'm fine," Sakura said, stepping in front of him, "Don't do anything you'll regret," she said, giving him a meaningful look, "If you accidentally kill him, do you know how bad that would be?"

Natsume bristled at that comment, "I doubt he could lay a scratch on me, stupid girl," He challenged.

"Natsume…" his blonde friend begged him quietly.

"Don't call Sakura stupid, you arrogant little…"

"I'm not arrogant. I just know that you can't…"

"I'll show you what I…" The room was now filled with Natsume and Li's voices, shouting across the room at each other. Tomoyo sighed.

"Quiet!" She said. She used The Voice to steal their voices, "Now when you two are ready to be civil, I'll return your voices," she said. Both boys sent her twin glares.

"Hey, you can't steal Natsume san's voice!" a girl with a horrible perm raged.

"Yeah, give back Natsume san's voice," another boy growled, levitating Tomoyo with his Alice.

"Now, now. Tomoyo chan was just calming the situation, I don't think that's fair," Eriol interrupted and floated Tomoyo back down to the ground, easily overpowering the boy's Alice.

"Hey, what's happening?" The boy asked, confused as to why his Alice wasn't working. He tried to lift Tomoyo again, but this time, Eriol bound his limbs to his body. He tried to struggle, but Eriol just made his magic stronger, until the boy could barely twitch.

"Don't try to float my friend again, and I'll consider releasing you," Eriol warned. The class looked in awe as Mochiage couldn't move an inch.

By now the students were in chaos. Many were yelling and cursing, some threatening the new students and some just making a general ruckus.

"This is so confusing," Sakura moaned.

"Sorry, Sakura chan. Can I use the cards again?" She asked.

"Of course, Tomoyo chan," she said. Tomoyo thanked her. She used the Silent to muffle all the sounds until there was nothing left.

"Okay," Tomoyo said in a soft voice, which was now crystal clear in the noiseless room, "I think we all got off on the wrong foot,"

Many students tried to protest, but found the Silent was stopping them, "So let's begin again," she said with a smile, "I'm Tomoyo Daidouji and my Alice, as I guess you can tell, is Sound,"

She turned to Eriol, "I'm Eriol and my Alice is Telekinesis,"

Tomoyo looked at him, then at the boy who was still being held motionless. Eriol followed her gaze and suddenly remembered that he was binding someone, "Oh, right. Are you going to stop trying to levitate my friends?" Eriol asked the boy. He took his struggling nod as a 'yes', "Good," he said and released his power.

"Sakura chan?" Eriol prompted.

"Oh, I'm Sakura and my Alice is making Sweets. As an apology for all of this, please enjoy," Sakura swept her hand in a graceful arc and made cakes, lollies and chocolates appear on every desk. The class was amazed; they'd never seen that kind of Alice before.

When it came to Li's turn, and it looked like he wasn't going to say anything, Tomoyo sent him a death glare that sent shivers down everyone's spine. She returned his voice and motioned for him to speak.

"I'm Syaoran Li. My Alice is Lightning. Happy?" he asked Tomoyo, who gave him a sweet smile.

Just as Li was finishing his introduction, the door swung open. Narumi walked in and was surprised to find the class completely silent for once, "What's happening?" he asked.

"Nothing," Tomoyo said lightly, releasing the Silent. The class was seething in anger.

"Right…okay. It's time for you guys to break into your Alice groups. The teachers are eager for you to get started," Narumi said, "I'll assign you guys partners for your first few days," Narumi said to the foursome, "Okay. How about we do it by Alice types, Sakura chan can go with Hotaru chan, Eriol kun can go with Mochiage kun, Tomoyo chan with Ruka kun and Li kun with Natsume kun," He looked to the four boys; Eriol and Mochiage, Natsume and Li. He saw Mochiage glaring at Eriol with hatred and some fear, while Eriol smiled back nonchalantly. He wondered what was wrong with Mochiage, since although he was usually a defiant hell raiser, he wasn't as bad as Natsume. He looked to the other two boys and saw them practically spitting flames at each other; the hatred was almost palpable.

"I don't want you two killing each other," He warned them, "Natsume, you're going to have to take Li kun to Persona for an earring,"

Li looked confused while Natsume, and the rest of the class, paled. They looked to Li with a newfound sympathy, which he ignored tersely.

_If they put an earring on me, I'll rip their heads off,_ Li said, telepathically, to Sakura and Eriol.

_Syaoran, this is serious. Those earrings are used to temper an Alice. It shouldn't affect your sorcery, but don't put up too much of a fight, or they'll get suspicious,_ Eriol cautioned.

_I'll get it off you later, Syaoran kun,_ Sakura said.

"Li kun, would you follow Natsume kun to the Dangerous abilities class?" Narumi asked, lacing his voice with his Alice.

"Urgh, whatever," Li shrugged.

* * *

A tense silence followed the two boys as Natsume led Li to the Dangerous Abilities classroom. Natsume looked to the newcomer and, had to admit, he was looking forward to watching Persona put an earring on the annoying guy. It was horrible of him to think that way, but he couldn't help it; the boy grated on his nerves.

The boy was slightly taller than himself with a mop of dark brown hair. He had his hands in his pocket and looked completely bored with what was happening. He looked around the hallway curiously, though, as if searching for a way out already.

"There is none," Natsume said.

"Excuse me?" the boy asked.

"There's no way to get out of here," Natsume clarified.

The boy looked like he would protest, but bit his tongue, "You've tried?" he asked.

Natsume shrugged.

"What's with the earring?" the boy asked, gesturing to the red jewel on Natsume's ear.

"You'll find out soon enough. I recommend you don't let them get it on you; it never comes off," Natsume wasn't entirely sure why he said this. Partially pity; did he feel sorry for the new guy who had no idea what he was getting himself into? No. It was probably because he was bored and he wanted to see the new guy put up a fight against Persona.

"I'll get it off later," the boy said. Natsume chalked it up to ignorance and knocked on the door of the DA class.

A man dressed completely in black, wearing rings on each finger opened the door, "Natsume, how odd of you to visit," he said, though his voice was icy and anything but welcoming, "And who is this?"

"New student. Narumi says to put an earring on him," Natsume said, avoiding eye contact.

"Come in, then and meet your classmates," the man said with a sly grin.

* * *

Li followed Natsume down the hallway. When they got to the door of the DA class and a tall man opened the door, Li got a chill down his spine. He could feel powerful magic from this man. He was surprised to see the raven haired boy so frightened. Frightened and full of barely constrained hatred.

The man led them in and Li looked around. He looked around and saw there were quite a few people of varying ages.

"What is your name?" the man in the mask asked him.

Li glared at him, "None of your business," he said.

"That won't do," the man said with a cold smile. Li glared at him, daring him to do his worst.

* * *

End of Chapter 1

Next chapter, Li and Natsume get sent on a mission for Persona. Get excited to watch the duo in action!

Please let me know what you think of this chapter! I hope you like it! If you have any further suggestions, things you'd like to see happen, corrections or general questions, please leave a review and I will attempt to answer them!

Please check out my profile for a list of possible fics and let me know if you'd like me to publish any of them, I love chatting with people so feel free to PM me!

:D Laughing on the Inside :D


	2. We Try

A/N; Hello my friends :D

Thank you to all those who reviewed last time, it was much appreciated! I love reading reviews; they make me feel all warm and fuzzy :D

I haven't got much to say about this chapter, except that it's an exciting one full of adventure and awesome.

Hope you like it, I have more to say but i'll save it for the bottom. Thanks for reading! Now enjoy;

* * *

**Connected**

_Chapter 2: We Try_

That night at dinner, Sakura sat with Tomoyo and Eriol.

"I wonder where Syaoran is…" Sakura said as she ate a fairly normal looking meal. As a two star, her meal was much like a traditional Japanese dinner.

"Knowing him he probably put up a fight with his teacher," Tomoyo sighed, picking at a similar looking spread.

"I really hope he didn't," a new voice chipped in. Sakura looked up to see a boy with blonde hair sit opposite them at the table.

"Oh, Sakura, Eriol, this is Ruka kun. He's in my class," Tomoyo introduced them.

They greeted him politely as Sakura asked, "Why do you hope that Syaoran hasn't fought with his teacher, Ruka kun?"

"That man is a ruthless sadist," Ruka said with quiet anger.

"Really?" Sakura asked, worried about her Syaoran.

"Yes. He really has no mercy…"

"I doubt Li san would have fought with that man," a voice interrupted. Sakura looked up and noticed that there were quite a few students from their class gathered around. The speaker was the girl with the bad hair, Shouda, "He's too powerful," she finished.

"Yeah, I've heard rumours from the middle school. Apparently he abuses his students and uses his Alice to inflict pain on them," someone added.

"What's his Alice?" Eriol asked.

"We don't know," Ruka informed him.

"Anyway, I think it's safe to say that Li san wouldn't have…"

"Syaoran!" Sakura called out, seeing Li enter the cafeteria. He was covered in scrapes and his new uniform was ripped in various places. He wore three earrings on one ear and two on the other as well as three rings on each hand, a wristlet and a masquerade mask that covered the top half of his face.

"I feel stupid," he muttered when he sat down, gesturing to his new jewellery and mask.

"You look stupid," Eriol replied with a straight face.

"Shut it, Eriol," he grumbled. The elementary students that were gathered around were shocked and frightened; even Natsume didn't have that many restrictive items.

"How'd you get so many accessories?" Sakura asked.

"Fought with that Persona guy, shocked him a bit with my lightning, got frozen by one of the Alice users, got a shitload of earrings snapped onto my ear, wondered if my powers would still work, called down more lightning, got bound by ropes, got the rings and wristlet, shocked that bastard Persona again, got the mask and called it a day," Li summarised with a growl.

_So it's true that none of the Alice preventing accessories affect your sorcery?_ Eriol asked telepathically.

_I thought you told me they wouldn't?! Were you using me as your guinea pig?!_ Li snarled back.

_Perhaps…_

Li was about to stab Eriol with a fork, but realised he was much too tired, snorted and gave a curt nod; the Alice prevention items had no effect on him, "So now I can barely use my Alice," Li lied for the benefit of those eavesdropping, "How long do I have to wear this crap?" he asked.

"You can't take it off, Li san, only a teacher can," Ruka supplied, "Do you feel okay?"

"This mask is giving me a throbbing headache, but that's about it," Li said, rubbing his temples.

"Syaoran…" Sakura said, looking at him with concern. He gave her one of his rare smiles,

"Don't stress, Ying Fa, I'm fine," A few of the girls cooed at how cute he was, but they were shushed by the boys who were more interested in the battle story.

"Where's Natsume?" Ruka asked.

"Stupid jerk didn't help me; just stood there while that Persona guy pierced my ears. He's still in the classroom; Persona said he wanted to 'have a word with him'," Li quoted. Though he was miffed, he didn't really blame Natsume. There wasn't much the boy could have done; Syaoran was an accomplished sorcerer and even he was having trouble with the bastard. If only he'd pulled out his sword! He could have rained all sorts of shit on that class.

"That doesn't sound good," Ruka murmured.

Their conversation was interrupted when a small banquet was laid out before Li.

"Whoa, Li san, what star are you?" the girl, Shouda, asked.

"Special star," he replied, picking at his food. He wasn't very hungry.

Sakura looked at Syaoran with concern written all over her features. Li sighed, knowing she wasn't just going to let this drop. He decided to try and change the subject, _Have you guys made any headway finding Sakura's cousin? She's not in Dangerous Abilities. At least I don't think so. There weren't any girls our age there, unless your cousin's got blue hair and split personalities?_

Sakura shook her head, _she's not in Technical either; I looked around and I didn't see her._ Sakura replied.

_She's not in Latent, though the class is quite large. I didn't ask around, though, since I didn't think it wise for others to know we are looking for her. It would be best to keep our cards close to the vest until we're more certain of this place._

_What about Tomoyo?_ Li asked.

_I asked her,_ Eriol replied, _she doesn't think Mikan's in her class, but she didn't specifically ask either._

"Great," Sakura moaned aloud. Her grandfather was withering away in a hospital, longing to see his favourite grandchild, whom he raised like a second daughter, and Sakura couldn't find her.

Tomoyo, sensing her friend's mood, patted her comfortingly on the shoulder, "Don't worry, Sakura, it'll be okay,"

"Yeah…I hope so," Sakura whispered.

* * *

"Mikan pass me the cardboard, please!"

"Here, Misaki san!"

"Thanks!" one of many Misakis ran to relay the cardboard to another Misaki, who cut out a simple door-like design.

It had been a hectic day in the Special Abilities classroom. They had finally decided to do an adventure house; "Aladin's magic lamp". It was a lot of work, but by the time they were willing to give up for the night, they were almost finished. They just had to set it up the next day and they would be done.

"Mikan, you should probably go to bed now," Tsubassa suggested. Mikan looked up to the clock and saw that it was nearly half past ten.

"Oh, wow! I didn't realise how late it was!" She said. Her stomach growled, "Ahhh, I missed dinner!"

"Don't worry, Mikan chan, just go to the robot and ask really nicely. I'm sure she'll give you something to eat,"

Mikan nodded and made her way back to the dorms. By the time she got there, everyone was asleep. She considered sneaking into Hotaru's room to ask her how her day was, but knowing her best friend, she'd probably call her a 'baka' and punch her in the head for waking her up.

She decided not to bother the robot for food, but was determined to wake up early and have a large breakfast; after all, she was a one-star now!

She climbed up the stairs with new vigour. She was bounding so happily up that she failed to notice a figure darting out around the corner. She bumped into the shadow and screamed as she fell backwards down the stairs, landing heavily on her butt.

"Oww…" she muttered as she looked up. She saw a boy with messy brown hair and a white masquerade mask clutching his head in pain and holding a banister. She recognised it as a punishment mask, used to inflict pain on students.

"Hey, are you okay?" she asked the boy with concern.

"Mind your own damn business," the boy growled viciously and pushed past her on his way down stairs. Mikan was both angry and scared of the boy, but he disappeared as suddenly as he came and she decided to pay him no mind.

* * *

Syaoran hopped from shadow to shadow, making his way stealthily to the DA classroom. He had a splitting headache from the mask. Earlier that evening, he had been sitting in his room, minding his own business, when a note summoning him was delivered to his room. Eriol had been with him and was interested, but Li didn't care. It was late and he just wanted to finish homework, then get some sleep. He sent a not-so-pleasant message back to Persona telling him where to shove his mission. A few minutes later and Li felt like his brain was trying to grow to five times its size while still encased in his skull.

Thus, he was at the door of the DA classroom with a splitting headache and a very negative attitude. He rustled his sleeves and made sure that the ofuda he had stashed in them were well hidden; without his sword, he had to rely on the ofuda to summon his more powerful magics.

"This is so stupid," he growled to himself, standing outside the door. He did not want to come to this stupid classroom to take some stupid mission for this stupid school. Personally, he had decided to either suck it up and live with the headache, or simply remove the mask with magic, but Eriol convinced him to go and find out what it was the school really did, "Stupid Eriol. If he wants to know, why doesn't he do it himself," he muttered.

He pounded angrily on the door. It was answered promptly by Persona who stood with a boy wearing a black cat-like mask. Persona beckoned him in.

"Ah, Syaoran kun, welcome back," He said with his eerie voice. Li rolled his eyes. Eriol's 'Clow Reed' voice was much creepier than this guy's.

Li gave Persona an un-amused look. Persona was unfazed and continued, "Tonight I want you and Natsume kun to go on a mission. You are too break into this building and steal this device," Persona showed them a picture of a tall skyscraper, then a picture of what looked to be an odd bomb, "The government doesn't want these people to be in possession of this piece of technology,"

"Who owns the building?" Li asked.

"An independent arms dealer, working under the guise of a Pharmaceutical business,"

"What will happen to this 'device' once we retrieve it," Li asked.

"Nothing that you need to worry yourself over," By his tone of voice and dismissive stance, Li surmised that it would be nothing good.

"What if I refuse to do it?" Li asked.

"That girl with the short brown hair. Kinomoto Sakura, isn't it? I wonder what her life would be like if I began to take an interest in it…" It was a thinly veiled threat and Li was torn between setting him on fire with a few thousand volts of electricity, and laughing harshly at the fact that he thought he could, in some way, harm Ying Fa; the Mistress of the Cards. But he wasn't done, "And the other girl; Tomoyo Daidouji? I wonder how she'd fare," Now Li growled. His Ying Fa could take care of herself and he knew both she and Eriol and even himself, would fight tooth and nail before they let this bastard touch Tomoyo, who wouldn't be able to defend herself. But Sakura was already stressed out because of her grandfather; Li wasn't going to let this bastard add to that.

"Fine," Li growled with clenched fists.

"Good. You have the rest of the night to complete this mission. Natsume knows the price of failure. I hope you won't have to find out, Syaoran kun,"

* * *

A discreet black car dropped the two about a kilometre from their destination. Natsume looked around, then jumped into the shadows. Li followed him, his headache had lessened now that they were on the mission. Both boys were careful not to be seen, keeping to the alley ways and back streets. Eventually, the reached the building.

"There's a guard at the front," Li whispered, "And security cameras," he pointed out their locations.

"Can you short circuit them?" Natsume asked, "I'll take care of the guard,"

Li nodded. On the count of three, the two broke out from the alleyway. Li closed his eyes and concentrated, _Lightning, Release!_ He shot four separate arcs to each camera, frying their circuitry. Natsume, meanwhile, had set fire to a bin. When the guard went to check, Natsume leapt up behind him and gagged him with a scarf. He tied the man's hands behind his back and his feet together.

"That's a really messy way of doing it," Li commented and, with one precise blow to the neck, knocked the struggling guard unconscious.

Natusme gave him wary look and they made their way to the front entrance. The doors were made of thick glass and were locked with conventional, metal locks.

"Step back," Natsume said.

"Why? You're not planning on melting that, are you?"

"You got a better idea?" Natsume challenged.

"Do you know how much heat you'll have to generate to melt that?" Syaoran shot back.

"I can handle it," Natsume snorted.

"And then what? You'll be exhausted for the next two hours and I'll be stuck lugging your useless weight through a massive breaking/entering crime? No thanks,"

"Then what?" Natsume snarled.

"I'll pick the lock," Li said. He looked around and found a small metal wire on the ground and worked at the door. Now, Li, being the heir of a multimillion dollar business, had no time for the learning of conventional lock picking. On the other hand, he was a high class sorcerer who knew a thing or two about telekinesis. He concentrated on aligning the different picks and tumblers and wiggled the wire around for show, then pushed the door open.

If Natsume was impressed, he gave no sign of it as the two snuck into the building. Li summoned his lightning and blacked out the security system.

"We've got maybe ten minutes before someone in the guard room notices that something's up," Li warned.

"I can do this in five," Natsume muttered.

Li followed him to a heavily locked door, which Li, again, opened. They made their way down two flights of stairs and found a large metal door with an electronic keypad.

Li inspected it for a moment, "Even if I short this out, it's not going to open,"

"Damn. I can't melt this much metal with this stupid mask on," He growled.

Li shot him a look, "Could you even melt this much metal without your mask on?" he jibed.

"You have no idea how powerful I am," Natsume snarled.

Li shot him a condescending smirk; "Well, have a look at how powerful I am," he couldn't help riling the boy up. He closed his eyes in concentration, _Force, know my plight; release the light! Lightning!_

A blinding bolt of pure energy erupted from Li's outstretched hands and shot straight at the door, forcing it apart. Natsume looked to Li, surprise in his eyes. Li gloated a bit, but he didn't have long to celebrate; sirens began whirring like crazy. Li stepped carefully through the hole.

"Don't touch the doors, they're still conducting a shitload of electricity," he cautioned, "Where's the bomb?" he asked.

"There," Natsume pointed to an object behind a glass case. Natsume grabbed a metal rod from one of the tables and used it to smash the glass, all pretence of subterfuge forgotten.

"Let's go," Li said as he extracted the bomb from the casing careful not to scratch himself on the glass. They made it up the stairs before they came across four large security guards.

Natsume looked prepared to fight, but remembering the earlier encounter with the watchman, Li tossed Natsume the bomb, "Hold that," he said as Natsume looked at him with surprise. Li jumped up and aimed a roundhouse kick to the first man who, not expecting it, was hit square in the jaw. He crumpled to the floor as Li swept his foot under the other guard, using an open palm to drive his head backwards as he fell. The other two circled Li, now wary of his skill.

Li pointed a finger at each of the men and released enough electricity to stun them, but not to kill. With all four down for the count, the two boys rushed from the building.

"Impressive fighting," Natsume conceded once they were out of danger. They were still half a kilometre from the pick up zone. Li nodded, accepting the compliment.

"Pass me the bomb, I want to look at it," Natsume gave him a wary look, then complied and handed over the device. It wasn't large or covered in countdown timers, but there were telltale signs of a dangerous device. Li wasn't sure he wanted the school to have it. Two years ago and he wouldn't have given a second thought about handing it over, but since meeting Sakura, he had to admit, she made him into a better person.

"I'm going to destroy this," Li said, stopping in the middle of an alleyway.

Natsume paused to look at him, "That's a very bad joke," he said slowly.

"I'm not going to let the school have this to wreak all kinds of mayhem or blackmail anyone,"

"I can't let you do that," Natsume warned, approaching him slowly, a flame nestled in his hand, "Don't you care about that girlfriend of yours?"

Li gave a wry grin, "Sakura would kill me if she knew I was about to give such a dangerous piece of technology to an evil institution just to keep her safe,"

"So you really don't care about her safety?"

"I'll protect her," Li said confidently.

"Well, I have someone I can't protect. If you destroy that, they'll harm her," Natsume growled.

Li looked at the boy, but only his eyes shone through the black cat mask, hard and resigned to fighting to the death for this, "Sorry, but I can't let this go," Li said sadly.

"I'll burn you to a crisp!" Natsume yelled. He threw his hand towards Li, but Li was faster. He jumped out of Natsume's circle of fire before it grew too big and sent a bolt of lightning at him. Natsume's body spasmed and he fell unconscious to the ground. Li sighed and called down enough lightning to instantly incinerate the bomb.

He felt lightheaded and slightly nauseous from using so much of his magic, but he still managed to levitate Natsume to the meeting place, where they were picked up and driven back to Gakuen Alice. By the time they got back to the academy and were led to the DA room, Natsume was regaining consciousness.

"Syaoran kun. What happened?" Persona asked taking in Natsume's limping state and the lack of any piece of equipment.

"We were unable to get the 'device' so I destroyed it in the lab," Li lied.

"That wasn't the mission. You have failed. You are going to have to be punished. You and Natsume,"

"It was my fault. I…tripped an alarm. And I incinerated the device. You can't punish Natsume for that," Li said, feeling slightly guilty.

"He has to learn the price of failure,"

Li glared at him, "But that isn't fair. I admit it was my fault,"

"You were both on the mission. You will both be punished,"

"No; I told you, that's not fair!" Li yelled.

"Life's not fair, Syaoran kun," Persona shrugged.

* * *

End of Chapter 2

Hope you liked that. Next chapter will probably be the last as I don't want to drag this story on too long. I've just got to put the finishing touches on the ending and I'll be happy.

If you want to voice any opinions or make an suggestions as to what you'd like to see, this will be your last opportunity to do so before I finish up the story so please feel free to let me know.

If you're looking for other reads and enjoy my writing, feel free to check out my other stories (SHAMELESS PLUG).

But yeah, overall, reviews are always welcome and I like to feel loved :D

:D Laughing on the Inside :D


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